The opioid epidemic has become so severe it’s considered a national public health emergency, and a recent report suggests it could be linked to a higher rate of children in foster homes.

Health News Florida's Daylina Miller talked with lead author Troy Quast, PhD, of the University of South Florida College of Public Health about the association between the rate of opioid prescriptions in Florida, and the number of children removed from their homes due to parental neglect.

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Some highlights from the report:

In 2015, roughly two out of every 1000 kids and teens were removed from their homes due to parental neglect, reflecting a 129 percent increase since 2012.

The number of opioids prescribed during this same time period rose 9 percent.

In 2012, doctors prescribed 72.33 prescriptions for every 100 residents. The rate grew to 81.34 by 2015, averaging 74.1 prescriptions during the 2012-2015 time frame. It’s important to note the rate dropped 2.5 percent in 2013, following the implementation of several new state policies regarding pain clinics and a prescription drug monitoring program.

Some counties averaged about one prescription a year for every three people, while other counties had as many as 1.5 opioid prescriptions per person each year. The highest rates were found in predominantly white counties.

On average, for every additional 6.7 opioid prescriptions per 100 people, the removal rate for parental neglect increased by 32 percent. This estimated increase corresponds to roughly 2000 additional children removed, resulting in an annual state fiscal cost of $40 million.

Florida lawmakers want more people to be able to report drug or alcohol overdoses without fear of retaliation. The effort comes after the high-profile death of a college student, and as the state’s opioid-related deaths continue to rise.

The Florida House wants to target $50 million toward opioid treatment and prevention in the upcoming year and spend about $1 million on a statewide prescription-drug database, the top House health-care budget writer said Tuesday.

The nation-wide opioid epidemic is getting worse. According to Florida's Department of Law Enforcement, there were nearly 6,000 opioid-related deaths in our state in 2016--a 35 percent increase from 2015. While there is no single solution, Naples' David Lawrence Center is using a grant to use a different approach to combat the problem.

Ciara sobs as she recounts how, as a middle schooler, she helplessly witnessed her mother's downward spiral into drug addiction, an affliction that left Ciara at times wishing her mother would simply die to end their suffering.